Between a number of ranked matchups and a stunning Texas A&M upset victory over Auburn, Week 12's edition of the College Football Playoff rankings was due for a serious shakeup.

Here is an overview of the latest Top 25 from the 12-person selection committee, as the college football hierarchy was revealed in an ESPN telecast Tuesday night:

In preserving its undefeated record, it comes as no surprise that Mississippi State is still the top team in the country.

For the second game in a row, Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston overcame multiple interceptions to lead the team to a 34-20 win over Virginia. That shaky, turnover-prone play had to contribute to FSU's fall to No. 3, as Oregon slid into the second spot on the strength of a win over Utah.

The Tigers are now out of the coveted Top Four following a 41-38 loss to the Aggies at home. Previously sixth-ranked TCU dominated then-No. 7 Kansas State 41-20 to bolster its resume in a big way—enough to get into the Top Four, at that.

Joey Galloway of ESPN offered his take:

TCU's triumph creates considerable convolution in the Big 12, thanks to its prior loss to Baylor, who blew out Oklahoma, 48-14, this weekend.

Much has been made of the Bears' weak non-conference schedule, which Sporting News' Matt Hayes doesn't buy into:

CBS4's Vic Lombardi deployed similar logic with regard to the Baylor-TCU dilemma:

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports raises an interesting point about the Horned Frogs' potential fate:

A reputable Michigan State Spartans defense was shredded by the Ohio State Buckeyes in East Lansing, as QB J.T. Barrett accounted for five total touchdowns in a 49-37 landmark win. That battle for Big Ten superiority gave the Bucks a big boost in their postseason push.

In all likelihood, though, Ohio State will face a conference championship tangle with Nebraska, provided the Cornhuskers win at Wisconsin next week and run the table in the final two games thereafter.

UCLA made a big jump from 18th to 11th in the latest rankings, catalyzed by star signal-caller Brett Hundley's four total TDs in a 44-30 win over Washington. Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times had the last laugh regarding his assertion that the team could still contend:

It will be interesting to see whether the Bruins can defeat USC and Stanford at home to stay in the Pac-12 South hunt, where they trail Arizona State.

The Sun Devils are dangerous, riding a wave of momentum off a 55-31 win over Notre Dame, while the Alabama Crimson Tide are still lurking thanks to a gritty, 20-13 overtime victory against LSU.

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports noticed how the committee gravitated to Arizona State, while CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd feels Alabama could jump into the Top Four soon enough:

As can be discerned from the breakdown of all these conferences and the most current standings, there is still so much at stake with mere games remaining. The biggest showdown on tap for Saturday is Mississippi State's trip to Tuscaloosa, where it hopes to knock off Alabama.

Few could have forecast Auburn losing, so even the top-tier teams playing perceptibly winnable games aren't safe.

In just the third edition of the College Football Playoff rankings, the committee has rewarded a less-heralded team in TCU by placing the Horned Frogs fourth. With the program in such a great position and so many formidable contenders chasing, this race for the postseason will surely be fascinating down the stretch.

Another week, another shakeup in the College Football Playoff rankings with yet another loss for a top team. Auburn fumbled away a golden chance to make the playoff—twice—and subsequently dropped out of the top four.

In the Tigers' place, TCU moved into the playoff picture for the first time this season. Meanwhile, Mississippi State, Florida State and Oregon all remain in the top four with the Ducks moving up two spots and knocking the Seminoles down a peg.

Several weeks still lie ahead, so there's no telling how the final rankings will look. The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide battle this weekend in a highly critical showdown, and the outcome will have a major impact on the rankings.

Prior to another huge weekend of games, here's a look at the latest College Football Playoff rankings and projections for the final bracket.

Analysis

It may not have been billed as a huge matchup prior to the season, but Mississippi State at Alabama already looks like the biggest game of the year.

Coming into the contest, the Bulldogs are the unanimous No. 1 across all polls and the only undefeated team in the SEC. The Tide roll in after their final road test with a 20-13 win over LSU in overtime, solidifying their place as one of the best in the country.

Both programs have endured the toughest schedules to this point, as ESPN Stats & Info notes:

Throughout the last several weeks, I've projected that Mississippi State will go in as the No. 4 seed and Bama as No. 2 overall. That's been contingent on this game. Suffice it to say, there's a lot on the line in Tuscaloosa this weekend.

Outside of the SEC, potentially the biggest game is taking place in Coral Gables, Florida. Miami might not come in as a ranked team, but the Hurricanes come in with three straight wins by an average of 24 points.

Florida State enters with an unblemished record but has narrowly escaped games against Notre Dame and Louisville. Miami coach Al Golden still knows taking down the Seminoles will require near perfection, per Christina De Nicola of Fox Sports:

This is obviously a team that's executing at a high level that we're going against that's 25 straight now. That's elite. You've got to execute at a high level, and (it) really doesn't matter whom you grew up with or whom you played high school with. You've got to get the job done, and that's what our guys have to stay focused on this week.

On the West Coast, Oregon has emerged as the class of the Pac-12 after a convincing win over Utah.

The Ducks have taken down some of the top teams this season with one of the best offenses in the country. Scoring the fourth-most points (46 per game) and ranking inside the top 25 in both rushing (22nd) and passing (18th), Oregon has rolled since losing to Arizona.

Kevin McGuire of NBC Sports points out how dominant the Ducks have been against notable defenses:

Marcus Mariota continues to shine under center, combining for 38 total touchdowns and just two interceptions. Even with Pharaoh Brown now out for the season, per Kevin Gemmell of ESPN.com, Mariota's legs along with Byron Marshall and Devon Allen can carry the team.

Unlike some quarterbacks who struggle under pressure, Mariota has been one of the best on the road. Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports notes how well Mariota has played away from Autzen Stadium:

Meanwhile, other teams like TCU and Arizona State loom with hopes of taking one of the final spots. If the Tide, Ducks or Seminoles drop a game, it would leave an opportunity for either of those two programs to step up.

College GameDay passes along a look at the chances for several one-loss teams to win the rest of the way:

The weeks left of the regular season in college football can be counted on one hand, so a lot can change before the playoff.

Even with one loss, it appears Mississippi State might have built a strong enough resume to make the final cut. Having one of the best measuring sticks this weekend in Tuscaloosa, the Bulldogs might also solidify their spot.

Down goes Auburn, and with its fall comes some clarity atop the College Football Playoff rankings. After a week that saw Texas A&M pull off a surprising upset of the third-ranked Tigers and six different matchups between Top 25 teams, we're finally beginning to cross schools out of playoff contention.

Mississippi State, Oregon and Florida State, playoff teams a week ago, stay as such in the latest committee rankings—albeit with one major change. The 9-1 Ducks, despite having a loss, leapfrogged the undefeated Seminoles (9-0) to take the second spot. The question coming into Tuesday night, though, was whether Alabama or TCU would occupy the fourth and final spot.

The Crimson Tide and Horned Frogs each earned impressive wins over ranked opponents, with Alabama needing overtime to take down LSU while TCU went all scorched-earth on Kansas State. In the end, the 12-person committee went with the more impressive victory. TCU was named as the fourth would-be finalist, with Alabama rounding out the Top Five.

Here's a look at how the rest of the Top 25 played out:

Given the number of high-profile games on the schedule, it's no surprise changes abound. Alabama earned its stripes with a hard-fought 20-13 victory over LSU, as the Tide needed multiple big plays to stay alive. Blake Sims, who struggled mightily for most of regulation, led a 55-yard drive in 50 seconds to set up a 27-yard Adam Griffith field goal that sent the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Sims hit DeAndrew White from six yards out to put Alabama ahead for good. The senior finished with 209 yards and two touchdowns but completed only 20 of 45 passes.

"He didn't have one of his better games. It was tough," Alabama coach Nick Saban told reporters. "He hung in there. He made some great plays when he had to...I'm really, really proud of way he hung in there."

TCU's triumph over Kansas State involved much less stress. Trevone Boykin accounted for 342 total yards and four touchdowns as TCU scored the first two touchdowns and never trailed in a 41-20 victory. The Horned Frogs have gone 5-1 in a six-game stretch playing five ranked opponents, with their only loss coming in heartbreaking fashion to Baylor.

The Bears got their own resume-affirming win Saturday, unloading a 48-14 walloping on Oklahoma in Norman. Corey Coleman made 15 receptions for 224 yards and had two touchdowns (one rushing), helping Baylor score the game's final 45 points. It was an exclamation-point loss for Oklahoma, which came into the season with national title hopes and is now 6-3.

Baylor, meanwhile, got the performance everyone has been waiting for. The committee still prefers TCU's overall resume, but it'll be interesting to see how much that head-to-head win for Baylor plays a difference down the stretch.

"The only thing we can control is to try to win out, be 11-1 and have an opportunity to be (Big 12) co-champions," TCU coach Gary Patterson told Stephen Hawkins of The Associated Press. "Just how we play, and what the general public and the committee think about us when we get done...we've just got to control our own destiny."

Resume affirmation also came for Arizona State and Ohio State, which each have legitimate claims for a Top Five spot. The Buckeyes, who were behind two-loss Ole Miss a week ago, went to East Lansing and earned a 49-37 win over Michigan State that was stronger than the final score indicates. They punted only twice, converting 10 of 14 third downs and putting up 568 yards of total offense.

J.T. Barrett accounted for five touchdowns and 386 total yards, continuing his emergence as one of college football's best quarterbacks.

"I think it is, because I love my team and I don't know enough," Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer told reporters when asked if Ohio State is a playoff team. "I haven't studied the other teams really. If I have to go fight for this team, what they've done—very impressive. That darn loss the second game, if that hurts us, I'll take the hit for that."

The loss to which Meyer refers was against Virginia Tech in Barrett's second game under center. The freshman threw three interceptions and generally looked like a mess, with it appearing that Ohio State's season was already over. Barrett has responded with a rapid improvement, throwing three interceptions total during the Buckeyes' seven-game winning streak.

No improvements under center have been needed for Arizona State, which continues to get sterling performances from its defense. The Sun Devils picked off Notre Dame's Everett Golson four times, returning two for touchdowns in a 55-31 romp. Taylor Kelly added four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) and D.J. Foster rushed for 120 yards in a strong all-around performance.

A visit to rival Arizona is the only remaining challenge on Arizona State's schedule, leaving open the Pac-12 Championship Game as a potential de facto playoff game. Second-ranked Oregon finishes with relative cakewalks against Colorado and Oregon State, and the Ducks earned more respect from the committee with a 51-27 win over Utah.

Marcus Mariota very likely supplanted Dak Prescott as the Heisman favorite with his third straight game with at least four total touchdowns.

In all, we're down to just 10 teams with zero or one loss and thus a legitimate playoff shot. The most surprising of those is No. 21 Duke, which finishes its regular season with three straight home games against Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Wake Forest. It's possible the Blue Devils are 11-1 heading into an ACC Championship Game matchup with Florida State.

In other words: Just when you think the college football hierarchy is sussing itself out, things get weird.

When a takeaway comes along, USC head coach Steve Sarkisian said it's crucial the Trojans parlay it into points.

"We need to capitalize on turnovers," he said, speaking after practice Tuesday at Howard Jones-Brian Kennedy Field. "We need to take advantage of maybe creating some short fields for ourselves and then maintaining taking care of the football offensively to make them work their way down the field.

"We can't give an offense like that short fields," Sarkisian added.

The Trojans coach cited USC's plus-nine turnover margin to Cal's even ratio. In terms of actually giving up the ball, however, the two teams have been considerably more comparable.

Cal ranks No. 38 in the Football Bowl Subdivision with just 13 turnovers lost. USC is even better, having given away just eight possessions to rank sixth nationally.

Both can thank the steady play of their quarterbacks. USC's Cody Kessler and Cal's Jared Goff are among the most prolific scorers in the nation with 25 and 27 touchdown passes apiece, respectively, but their lofty numbers are not the result of high-risk, high-reward mentalities.

As good as each is at getting his team in the end zone, both Kessler and Goff are equally adept at maintaining their squad's possessions.

Goff has thrown just four interceptions in 372 attempts—one every 93 passes. Kessler has been picked off twice in 297 passes, or once every 148.5 attempts.

Cal head coach Sonny Dykes credited Goff's improved ball protection to the Golden Bears starting stronger this season than in the quarterback's freshman campaign when he threw 10 interceptions.

"The biggest thing is his comfort level and the understanding of the offense," Dykes said. "He has a better anticipation, a better sense for what's going on.

"The most important attribute that good quarterbacks have is confidence," Dykes added. "He's starting to play with a lot of confidence."

In turn, the Golden Bears in general are more confident, and the result is a 41.9 point-per-game average.

Sarkisian's taken notice. He said the Trojans must score at least 35 points to win.

That's a number USC has hit in three of its last four wins. And in those three victories, Kessler has a remarkable 14 touchdown passes with no interceptions.

In his last outing against Washington State, Kessler went 21-of-32 for 400 yards and five scores. That got the attention of Cougars head coach Mike Leach, who commented on Kessler's play Tuesday on the coaches teleconference.

"He doesn't take any chances. That's the biggest thing," Leach said of Kessler. "They do a lot of things to make sure he's successful."

Those "things," according to Leach, include using play-action fakes to "bait" defenders, then "he does a good job throwing to the open man."

It's a very simple formula, albeit one that could dictate the outcome of Thursday's game.

To Blitz or Not to Blitz

Don't expect USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox to call for many blitzes against Cal. The Trojans have run the fewest blitzes of any team in the power-five conferences.

More specifically, USC's two games with the lowest percentage of blitzes called, per USCFootball.com's Ryan Abraham, were against Boston College and Washington State.

Cal's offense bears similarities to that of Washington State, as Dykes is a branch off the Leach coaching tree. Dykes also uses backup quarterback Luke Rubenzer for zone-read plays in the same vein as Boston College's Tyler Murphy.

According to Sarkisian, that's unlikely to change based on what he described as play-calling to the team's strengths.

"We've got a really good front seven," Sarkisian said. "We take pride in our front four and what they can do. Also, we understand that we have some youth in the secondary. We need to take care of those guys to make sure we're minimizing the big [pass] play."

Minimize those plays the Trojans have. Opponents have completed 22 passes of 20 yards or more against USC, 20th best in the nation. The Trojans have allowed just five pass plays of 30 yards or more, which ties Alabama for third best in the country.

Conversely, Cal is one of the best teams in the FBS at producing explosive pass plays. One reason, according to Dykes, is Goff's ability to turn blitzing situations into opportunities.

While USC's limited blitzing is a safeguard against the pass, Sarkisian does not see it negatively impacting the Trojans' run defense.

"Even though we haven't blitzed as much, our run numbers have been fantastic," Sarkisian said. USC is allowing 138.4 rushing yards per game and just four yards an attempt. "We haven't had to devote an extra defender to the box, which in turn has helped us in our pass coverage."

Lobendahn Holding Off Walker at Tackle

Aundrey Walker initially filled in at left tackle for starter Chad Wheeler, who tore his ACL in the Oct. 25 loss at Utah.

Sarkisian hinted Walker would remain in the position, but freshman Toa Lobendahn moved from the interior to left tackle in the week before the Trojans faced Washington State.

"Toa beat him out," Sarkisian said. "We're going to play the best players that give us the best opportunity to be successful, and that's what happened."

Injuries and Energy After Bye Week

Sarkisian said on his Nov. 2 conference call that USC's bye week "couldn't come at a better time."

The Trojans used their additional week leading up to Thursday's game to recuperate from the collective injuries that piled up throughout Pac-12 play, and the strategy should pay off.

Linebacker-safety hybrid Su'a Cravens will be in the lineup after suffering a knee injury at Washington State.

On Tuesday, Sarkisian said fullback Soma Vainuku was looking good. Freshman defensive back John Plattenburg is day-to-day with a thigh bruise.

In addition to healing, the bye week afforded USC an opportunity to re-energize. Sarkisian said he has seen that manifest in practices, which resumed on Saturday.

"This is our Thursday...for a 'Thursday' practice, I thought our energy was fantastic," he said. "I had to tell them to slow down, which is a great place to be. [It] means we're energized and fresh. They're in tune to the details of the game plan, and Thursday night, we're going to put it all together."

Collegiate offenses rely on field-stretching wide receivers to enhance vertical efforts and exploit pass defenders dealing with a heightened prevalence of penalties. These elite pass-catchers can make the difference between an average downfield attack and one capable of routinely taking the top off of defenses.

We continue to see premier prospects become effective weapons as freshmen—2014 5-star recruit KD Cannon has 38 receptions for 731 yards this season—so members of this recruiting cycle are destined to make an impact as early as next fall.

Here's a look at several young receivers capable of creating matchup issues for opponents throughout their college careers. Each will be counted on to elevate offenses at the next level.

There will be huge stakes on the line when Auburn meets Georgia this weekend in the 118th edition of The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

On the field, a win by the Bulldogs would even the series record at 55-55-8. However, the bigger battles are likely to be fought on the recruiting trail, where the longtime rivals have gone head-to-head for a number of talented prospects in recent years.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Most years, Alabama’s game against Mississippi State comes at just the right time.

The Crimson Tide are emotionally and physically drained from playing LSU. The Tigers give Alabama everything they have and, win or lose, it takes a toll.

So playing what is usually an average or below-average Mississippi State team works out, since Alabama can afford a little bit of a sloppy game and still come out on top before resting up for the Iron Bowl.

Not this year.

At least for now, Mississippi State is the king of the SEC, the conference’s only undefeated team and one of just two among all power-five programs.

It’s beaten LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn, putting the three away with relative ease. Its quarterback, Dak Prescott, is a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender and its defense is salty up front.

The LSU letdown is very real. Andrew Gribble of AL.com provided some context:

A closer look at the numbers shows a similar pattern. At least on offense, Alabama struggles out of the gate the week after facing LSU.

This occurs for a variety of reasons. When asked how he felt after Saturday’s win, right tackle Austin Shepherd’s answer was simple. “Like you were hit by a Mack truck,” he said. “Sore everywhere.”

LSU’s defense matched Alabama pound for pound up front and in the secondary, giving the Crimson Tide little room to operate. LSU held Alabama to its lowest yards-per-play output of the year at 4.2.

It’s always a physical fight that wears on the players.

That’s where Mississippi State, in the past, has come in.

Alabama has played the Bulldogs following LSU in all but one year under Saban. Only once has Mississippi State been ranked at the time the two met. It’s given Alabama a little bit of leeway to have an off game.

It can’t afford that this year and will have to bounce back quickly. That’s where the mental part comes in.

“Of course it was a hard-fought game, a hard, tough, physical game,” wide receiver DeAndrew White said. “Everybody is sore from that game. I say we’ve got to bounce back mentally from our body being sore, don’t want to practice and stuff like that. We’ve got to have a great week of practice and preparation for this game.”

A classic LSU letdown could spell bad news against a very good and dangerous Mississippi State team.

That’s why Alabama coach Nick Saban didn’t want to talk about any kind of rest in the lead-up to a huge game in the Crimson Tide’s season.

“We have a tough game coming up, so we need to be thinking about what we need to do to beat this team,” Saban said. “They do a lot of things differently. This is a tough preparation based on what they do as a defense and as an offense. I think our players have to focus on, this is going to be a tough game and I don't know that you can prepare for a tough game by worrying about—you've got to have some tough practice because that's how you play well against those kind of teams.

“We had a bye week and we just played a game and we're going to have to bounce back and respond and get ready to play probably the most physical game we've played all year.”

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

DeKaylin Metcalf is a 5-star 2016 Ole Miss wide receiver commit from Oxford, Mississippi. DeKaylin took some time to sit down with Bleacher Report and discuss his relationship with his cousin, Calvin Johnson, as well as his favorite part of the Ole Miss game day traditions.

Louisville sophomore quarterback Will Gardner is expected to miss the remainder of the 2014 campaign due to a knee injury suffered in the team's win over Boston College.

Brett McMurphy of ESPN broke the news:

Gardner later commented on the news via his Twitter account:

Gardner played a key role in helping the Cardinals to a 7-3 record. He had 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions in eight games played. Reggie Bonnafon, a freshman who previously led the team to wins over Wake Forest and Syracuse, will likely assume the reigns once again.

Bonnafon had two touchdowns on five throws in relief of Gardner last week.

The Texas A&M football team will play Missouri at Kyle Field on Saturday. There is a small group of players who will have a significant impact on the game.

The Aggies are 7-3 on the season with a 3-3 record in the SEC. They are coming off a 41-38 victory at Auburn. Missouri is 7-2 on the season with a 4-1 record in the SEC. They are coming off a bye week.

This game will have a huge impact on the standings in the SEC East and on positioning in the bowl pecking order for the Aggies. Missouri is still fighting to get into the SEC Championship Game, and a loss to the Aggies would likely take them out of the running.

This is a look at some of the impact players who will compete in the game on Saturday.

It's mid-November, and here we are with only two SEC teams with fewer than two losses.

That may change on Saturday, as No. 1 Mississippi State (9-0) will travel across the border to take on No. 4 Alabama (8-1) in a game that will serve as an elimination game for the Crimson Tide and further define the evolving College Football Playoff picture.

Is it also an elimination game for the top-ranked Bulldogs? Would a two-loss SEC champion have a shot at the four-team tournament? Just how good is Texas A&M?

Those questions are answered in this week's SEC Q&A:

It depends on how things shake out around the country. If the chalk holds, yes, it will eliminate Mississippi State from Playoff contention.

Judging from their first two weeks of rankings, the only way that I thought the selection committee would take two teams from the SEC is if Mississippi State and Auburn both won out. That would have put Mississippi State in the No. 1 slot and Auburn, which would have had to run a gauntlet of its own, no worse than No. 3.

Auburn's 41-38 loss to Texas A&M last week allows the committee to hit the reset button—and do so with teams from various conferences from around the country.

If Alabama beats the Bulldogs, the Crimson Tide would be No. 1 or No. 2 next week along with Florida State, Oregon and TCU or Baylor in the four-team bracket assuming no upsets happen this weekend. Those are four teams from four different conferences not including Ohio State, which has a relatively clear path to the Big Ten championship. Conference titles are a point of emphasis for the committee, and we won't know how much until Selection Sunday.

My gut feeling is that the Bulldogs would be behind the Buckeyes in the Playoff pecking order assuming the chalk holds. That shouldn't be the case because winning a conference title only has a loose correlation to being an elite football team—especially since all conferences aren't created equal.

An increased emphasis on conference championships does correlate with expanding Playoff fields. That could lead to a devastating case of Playoff buyer's remorse in Starkville.

Of course, it might not matter. Mississippi State could still win out and, if Auburn beats Alabama in the Iron Bowl, would still go to Atlanta.

It's certainly possible. It may be one of those Lloyd Christmas "one in a million" shots from Dumb & Dumber, but it's possible nonetheless.

If that SEC team is Georgia, Auburn or Ole Miss—all of which still have an outside shot of making it to Atlanta—it'd have a reasonably strong case to be the top two-loss team in the country. That'd place it behind Florida State, Oregon/Arizona State, TCU, Baylor and Ohio State if those teams win out, but it wouldn't take too many dominoes to fall for a two-loss team to get into the mix.

A two-loss Missouri team wouldn't get the same benefit of the doubt, though. The Tigers are currently unranked, and games vs. Texas A&M, Tennessee and Arkansas won't move the meter with the selection committee all that much. Toss in a home loss to Indiana on the resume, and the Tigers are out.

We've seen chaos happen down the stretch several times, including last season when Michigan State's upset of Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game cleared the road for Auburn to head to Pasadena for the BCS National Championship Game.

If one or two dominoes fall, a two-loss SEC champ could follow in its footsteps. Now, a real curveball would be if a two-loss SEC East team wins the SEC title over Alabama, and one-loss Mississippi State is sitting there waiting.

But the 59-0 Alabama loss is still something that won't sit well with the selection committee, the team was wildly uncompetitive during the three-game SEC losing streak, and it isn't like the Aggies earned style points in the Louisiana-Monroe win.

Will Texas A&M be ranked in the Top 25 by the committee at the end of the season? Absolutely. It should take care of Missouri and LSU at home to close the season and slide into the bottom of the rankings.

That'd be a huge step forward for a program that looked lost just one week ago, give the youngsters confidence heading into bowl practice and give the program a ton of momentum heading into a big offseason.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.

They arrived with fanfare and credentials: Jim Mora from the NFL, Rich Rodriguez and Mike Leach intent on repeating their respective program-building from West Virginia and Texas Tech and Sonny Dykes bringing his uptempo offense from Louisiana Tech.

When Todd Graham arrived at Arizona State, it was under a cloud. He was a winner—at Rice, Tulsa and Pitt. But leaving Pitt as a one-and-done head coach created a ton of hard feelings. Thus Graham arrived in Tempe and was seen as a job-hopper.

Fast-forward three seasons, and the label that must stick to Graham is "winner." Arizona State should take the field in Tucson on November 28 needing a win to clinch a second consecutive Pac-12 South title.

This is the division of Brett Hundley, USC, Utah's rugged defense and Rich Rod's pioneering spread offense. This was supposed to be UCLA's year, with Hundley making a Heisman run. Having lost nine starters on defense, the Sun Devils were expected to struggle against a quarterback-heavy conference.

The “first” new defense took a second-half pummeling from UCLA and Hundley. So Graham rebuilt on the fly, inserting experienced players who had not been starters. ASU’s defense has since shown marked improvement.

Graham’s defensive identity? Aggression. On Notre Dame’s first drive, ASU rushed five or more defenders on nine of 13 plays, even if the Irish ran the ball. By day’s end, that pressure wore down Notre Dame and created five takeaways.

Arizona State has won with an overlooked quarterback. The publicity machine has missed Taylor Kelly. But when he regained his health following a September foot injury, Graham went to him without hesitation, knowing he needed Kelly’s experience for a tough November stretch.

These Sun Devils have found a way to win games.

They have won with their backup QB (Mike Bercovici), they have won when the opponent didn’t defend a Hail Mary (the stunner to Jaelen Strong against USC), they have won when the opposing kicker fails in OT (Utah's standout Andy Phillips) and they have won when the opposing QB throws for over 400 yards (Notre Dame's Everett Golson.)

In their biggest wins, there was a fourth-quarter response. After a furious rally pulled Notre Dame within three points at 34-31, the Sun Devils had a reply: five plays, 75 yards and a touchdown. Kelly’s lone pass was a patient 40-yard throw to freshman running back Demario Richard on a wheel route.

That drive reflected Graham’s impact on Arizona State football.

He inherited a program with a well-earned reputation for underachievement. Dennis Erickson’s teams were loaded with players bound for the NFL, but none of those teams ended with a sum equal to their parts.

Now, Arizona State wins with fewer individual stars but with a collective will that shines. The Sun Devils will be heavy favorites in their next two games at Oregon State and home against Washington State. Win those, and the rivalry game with Arizona will have national implications. Win those, and in a conference filled with fine coaches, Todd Graham will be the best of 2014.

***

The best Pac-12 player of 2014, Marcus Mariota, has avoided the off-game that costs Heisman contenders. No disasters like Auburn's Nick Marshall's late fumbles against Texas A&M. When Utah made a fourth-quarter push to within three points of Oregon, Mariota needed little time to extinguish upset dreams.

Mariota led the Ducks on a 75-yard drive in stunningly quick fashion. There were successful runs and a dash of speed on a screen to wide receiver Devon Allen, but Mariota’s moment arrived after an injury to starting center Hroniss Grasu stopped the game late in the drive.

Mariota watched his friend be helped off the field and then prepared to receive shotgun snaps from Grasu’s replacement, Doug Brenner. From the Utah 34-yard line, Mariota fielded a snap off his ankles, straightened up and quickly flipped a pass straight up the field to Dwayne Stanford.

The hastily thrown ball was slightly behind Stanford, but the receiver twisted to catch the ball and finish a catch-and-run touchdown—a play that displayed the poise and presence of a premier college player.

***

The most disappointing individual moment of the weekend was when Utah's Kaelin Clay lost a sure touchdown in a poor attempt at subtle celebration. Clay’s drop of the ball at the Oregon 1-yard line cost the Utes a 14-0 lead in the early second quarter—no guarantee of victory, but a lost window to command the way in which the game would be played.

Credit must go to the Pac-12 officials who never took their eyes off the play. While the Utes celebrated and the ESPN director cut to crowd and sideline camera shots, the game officials never signaled a touchdown. They never blew a whistle.

They threw a beanbag alertly recognized by Ducks players as a sign the ball was live. They never flinched when Oregon fielded the ball. They properly allowed the play to continue after the first Duck, Erick Dargan, fumbled and a second, Joe Walker, picked up the ball and ran the length of the field.

They were right. That should be acknowledged in a season that has seen the resignation of supervisor Tony Corrente, also an NFL referee.

Corrente resigned because he felt the conference was going a bit overboard defending the complaints from coaches. And Corrente probably went a bit too far defending his officials.

The crew in Utah functioned perfectly on a game-altering play.

Mariota is the best player in the conference but must bow to a teammate for the title of Most Important Player. Royce Freeman is neither the best nor most valuable, but for Oregon’s national title hopes, no Duck is more vital.

Listen to an NFL coach who requested anonymity on the Pac-12 running games: "Watch running backs to see how many extra yards they gain. If a play is blocked for four yards, does the back get tackled at four? Or does he gain more?

Stanford's running game this year has gained exactly the yards that are blocked. Freeman is the other extreme, the "best back for Oregon since (Jonathan) Stewart." An NFL executive simply replied to me about Freeman, "He's for real."

On Oregon’s fourth-quarter drive referenced above, the first play was a right-side run by Freeman. Two Utah defenders contacted him three yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Freeman drove through them and gained 12 additional yards. Two plays later, he stiff-armed Utah safety Brian Blechen to tack on five yards at the end of a run.

If Oregon doesn't stumble late (their rivalry game shouldn’t pose the usual challenge given Oregon State’s poor season), Freeman gets at least two games on the national stage, the Pac-12 Championship and a potential playoff spot—the chance to be the special ingredient that lifts the Ducks to a first national title.

They arrived with fanfare and credentials: Jim Mora from the NFL, Rich Rodriguez and Mike Leach intent on repeating their respective program-building from West Virginia and Texas Tech and Sonny Dykes bringing his uptempo offense from Louisiana Tech...